We Believe!

Dylan did a great job singing at the Christmas program at school. I thought the better show might have been a video taken from the stage out towards the crazy parents trying to wave at their kids and get a photo and video simultaneously.

This Saturday we took Dylan to meet Santa - he could hardly wait! He did ask where Santa's sleigh was (on the roof of the mall of course) and where the elves were (still busy in the North Pole making presents!). As soon as he saw Santa from the line, he yelled "Santa! I want lots of presents!" But once on his lap, he had a "Christmas Story" moment and pretty much froze, just smiling sweetly and nodding to the gift ideas Santa had. Given Gavin's momma's boy personality, I was surprised that he didn't scream his head off! He was very interested in this Santa guy and I think it helped that our Santa looked like the real deal, no fake beard! Of course I've been getting the most mileage out of this season as possible, threatening to call Santa on my cell when Dylan is misbehaving. This usually works like a charm, so I'll be sad when Christmas is over this year! When Gavin misbehaves, Dylan loves to remind me "Mom, you need to call Santa and tell him Gavin's not being a good boy."

Dear Santa

Dylan has what seems like quite an extensive (expensive) Christmas list for a 3 year old:

* Motorcycle

* Tree house with pulley system for his toys

* Bike

* Bunk bed

Hopefully he won't be let down this year since he is only getting one of those items. The good news is that when he was asking me for "lots and lots of presents" the other day, I said "Dylan, do you know what Christmas is really about?" and he responded with "Baby Jesus!"

Dylan is also a great problem solver. He loves to come up with creative solutions. For example, at Halloween he couldn't wait to go Trick-or-Treating but we told him that he had to wait until after dinner. It was only late afternoon so he suggested "Then let's eat dinner now!" So we explained that you have to wait until it gets dark outside, to which he responded "Aha! I have a great idea! We could get a really, really big umbrella to block out the sun and make it dark!"

He is of course even more excited for Christmas. I recently saw him messing around with my alarm clock and asked him what he was doing. He says "I'm changing it to Christmas-Time!"

Gavin thankfully can't communicate a list yet but he has started talking more which is fun. A few new things, many of which are combined with sign language which helps us distinguish his words while he works on enunciation:

* Please

* Thank you

* More

* Uh-oh (often said BEFORE he purposefully drops something)

*Peek-a-boo (sounds more like dee-da-doo) where he covers his ears instead of eyes

His favorite word is still "Hi" as he meets and greets anyone and everyone throughout our day, including people on the TV.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving program at Dylan school. He was one of the Native Americans.
Grandma Solomon, Mom, Gavin, and Dad all enjoyed the show :)

Last minute, we decided to head to the Northwest for Thanksgiving at my brother's house. We looked forward to spending time with his family, staying at his new house, and catching up with my parents who flew up from San Diego. I loved the chilly weather that really helped me get into the holiday spirit.

Kudos to Dylan, the best little traveler we could ask for!


What do you need when traveling with a one year old? Daddy has the answer!

After hopping off the cross-country flight, we dove right into thanksgiving dinner, with Ryan and Michelle hosting over 40 people!

Catching up with old friends

Fun at the kids table

I am thankful for the men in my life Fun at Uncle Ryan's house

It's beginning to look a lot like Christsmas

A trip to Seattle is never complete without a visit to the Museum of Flight.

The ladies in my life...xoxo

Mom Talk

I'll admit I've been a little run down this week with my high-maintenance one-year-old. So I thought the antedote for that would be writing down a list of what I love about this stage, specifically him at this stage:

~How he says a refreshing "Ahhhh" after taking a sip
~How he says "Mmmmmm" as he goes in for a kiss
~The fact that he LOVES dogs and loves to imitate them too (barking and panting - so cute, but the dog-food eating part not so cute)
~Sleep! He goes to bed just after 7 and wakes up just before 7 (and my wonderful hubby is the one who gets up with him xoxo)

It is entirely possible to:


~ be grateful for your husband's job but a little grumpy that he had to work late the whole week
~be totally in love with your kids and at the same time overwhelmed with the responsibility of it all
~be doing the most important job of the day (taking care of your kids) and thinking you weren't "productive" enough that day
~look forward to a "girls weekend" now that I'm not nursing, but be wondering if I'll miss the kids (and husband) too much to truly enjoy it (or is it the worry about what the house will look like upon my return that makes me wonder if it's worth the trip?)
~be totally and comletely grateful that these little ones are in God's hands!!!

I meant to do this for Gavin's 1 year post, but here it is...Daddy at an age we're unsure of (looks younger than 1 by the position), Dylan at 1 year, Gavin at 1 year, and me as a baby - need to find a one year photo. Similarities?

October 2009

The recent happenings:

Gavin talking: mama, dada, Ba-ba (Bentley), Eeeeee (for "cheese" when he sees a camera). His favorite thing to say is "Hi" with a wave, and he is a charmer!! Gavin can often be found climbing on all our furniture, chairs, couches, tables...

He is still eating his way through life...when in doubt - feed him! Needless to say, this requires many grocery store trips and stocking up at Costco. He truly eats more than Dylan and probably more than me. For example, in the morning he will eat an adult portion of oatmeal and fruit, then we try to figure out if the screeching is because he wants more or he wants to get down (still working on sign language). After awhile we give up trying to figure it out and get him out of the high chair. He promptly makes his rounds to each person and demands that they share their breakfast. This results in many arguments around Dylan's table... of course then Gavin always moves onto the dog food at some point. Ughhh...the dog won't touch it but Gavin seems to love chicken by-product.



He loves to put shoes on his hands and clomp around the house. Is often found playing with a car or train making great engine noises! Loves using walker toys but is still content to speed-crawl to where he wants to go instead of walk on his own. Is giving me a headache daily due to his teething attitude. The nursery worker at church said "He must be your first...or your last!" (AKA High Maintenance!!)


Dylan talking: "But why?" Gotta love that one! My friend from Dylan's preschool said her son started saying that the same time Dylan did so we're blaming it on their teacher :)

His best friends are Bryce from school and the neighbor twins, JT and Cooper.
Favorite show: Curious George

Still the best big brother around. The other morning, he offered to watch Gavin for me on the couch while I got him a drink and I look over to see his arm draped around Gavin as he said "Did you know I love you?" I'm sure 10 minutes later he was grabbing a toy out of Gavin's hand but it's the sweet stuff I choose to remember :) As I was finishing this post, he got up from his nap and said "Mom, I really miss Gav."

When I ask him what we learn at church, Dylan replies, "That God always keeps us safe." Good job class volunteers! I still prefer volunteering in the nursery where the kids can't talk which means I get to chat it up with the other gal on duty.


Dylan as a turtle at his preschool Halloween party

My lovable lion and fearless fireman

Merritt Island

How do I sum up the hands-down best family vacation? From the frolicking dolphin to the friendly manatee, the swimming, boating, laughing, eating, relaxing, fishing, more eating, firepit evenings with fireworks and drinks, pirate-theme tree house, awesome friends, gorgeous house...can't even name it all. Amazing! Can't wait to return one day!! Too many kodak moments to choose from, so I popped a couple in and I'm signing off...

Gavin officially turns 1! (September 21)

Photo courtesty of: http://www.virginiahartman.com/

Gavin started his birthday out with his favorite meal - pancakes! Although we celebrated both boys' birthday on the farm in Oregon, we decided to throw a little party here with Jason's family. The cousins always have a blast and it was a great excuse for a family get-together.